Tifa paced behind the bar, her mind a turmoil of emotions that she couldn't understand right now. She hadn't expected a cure to be found so soon, or at all in fact. Was there a scientist somewhere who had discovered a cure, or was it found in the ground?

Everything was so confusing that she soon found herself questioning everything that had happened recently and wondering whether it had happened at all. Had she imagined Cloud bursting in looking so happy, or not? Although, just looking over to the stairs answered that question for her as Marlene stood there anxiously, also awaiting Cloud and Denzel's return.

There was something else that was nagging at the back of Tifa's mind which she wasn't sure of, but she hadn't thought of it much until she forced herself to sit down on a stool. When Cloud had glanced over his shoulder at her on his way out his smile had seemed different somehow, but she wasn't sure how exactly.

With a sigh, she figured she was probably just reading into everything.

Pulling out her phone, she searched through her list of contacts for one name in particular and then looked over at Marlene once she'd found it. The girl was watching her closely.

"I'm going to call your father, alright Marlene?" Tifa told her.

"What for?" Marlene asked, stepping down from the stairs and walking over to her.

"I guess... just to see whether he's heard about a cure where he is." Tifa shrugged. "He probably hasn't, but I'd just like to call anyway."

"Okay." Marlene shrugged and walked back to the stairs, this time sitting down and resting her chin on her hands.

Tifa clicked on Barret's name and then held the phone to her hear, waiting patiently for him to pick up as it rang.

"'Lo? Tifa?" came the voice.

"Hey Barret," Tifa greeted him. "I was just calling to ask... you haven't heard anything about a cure yet have you?"

"Believe me, if I did you'd be the first person to know." Barret said.

"I thought so, but thanks anyway." Tifa sighed.

"Is there something wrong?" Barret asked, now sounding worried. "He's not worse, is he?"

"No, no," Tifa said, shaking her head even thought they weren't speaking face to face. "It's just... well, Cloud came in a moment ago claiming he'd found a cure. His geostigma was gone from his arm and he took Denzel to go fix him up."

"What? That's great!" Barret roared over the phone. "Why aren't you celebrating?"

"I just-" Tifa stopped and looked over at Marlene, who's eyes were fixed on her as she had suspected. With an apologetic look in her eyes, she stood from the stool and walked off to another room, shutting the door. "Honestly, it all just seems a bit weird to me."

"How come?" Barret asked.

"Well, I guess I just thought that when a cure was found people would be running and screaming it everywhere. But Cloud's keeping it quiet for now because he said there wasn't enough for everyone yet." Tifa explained, rubbing her forehead with a hand.

"It does sound a bit weird," Barret agreed. "But maybe there's another reason Cloud's keepin' it quiet. Have a talk to him when he gets back, yeah?"

"I will, thanks." Tifa said. "I just wanted to ask someone-"

She stopped then, frowning as she heard the sound of the front door opening. Was Marlene going outside for something? Then she heard a voice.

"Tifa! Cloud's back!"

"Barret, I'll have to call you back. Thanks for your help!" Tifa didn't even wait for a reply and snapped her phone shut, pocketing it and darting out of the room to see for herself.

Marlene was standing up on the stairs but she was clenching the railing tightly and Tifa frowned, turning to see Cloud standing in the doorway with his sword in his hands and his eyes darting around worriedly.

"Where's Denzel?" Cloud asked.

"What? Cloud... you took Denzel to get cured." Tifa said, her heart pounding in her chest loudly. Why was this happening now? What had happened to Cloud and where was Denzel!?

"Cured? From what?" Cloud asked, lowering his sword slightly.

"The stigma! What else, Cloud?" Tifa asked angrily. She couldn't handle this right now, not when their pain had been lifted moments ago.

"Who took him?" Cloud asked desperately. Tifa glanced over at Marlene, who was looking right back at her with a terrified expression on her face.

Moving her gaze back to Cloud, Tifa took a deep breath before softly saying, "You did."